STV4424 – Climate, Energy and Environmental Governance
Course content
Coping with climate change and securing a clean and biodiversity rich environment are pressing challenges to modern societies. It will require transitions of political procedures, social structures, economic systems, and our everyday lives. This course will give you an overview of what governments can do to spur climate action, as well as environmental protection more broadly. Participants will be offered analytical tools that can help explaining domestic governance developments, as well as differences across countries, issue-areas and over time. Particular attention will be given to how governments may develop climate policy portfolios, design decision-making procedures and a governmental apparatus fit to facilitate climate action.
The course will highlight drivers and obstacles to public climate and environmental governance. While political decisions are important, we will also examine how to secure an appropriate implementation of environmental policy. Environmental governance tends to be informed by scientific knowledge, while also being influenced by business interests and shifts in popular sentiments and support. Therefore, you will be trained in how to assess the relative importance of science, business and popular support as drivers and obstacles to climate and environmental governance. Throughout the course we will give special attention to what policy entrepreneurs can do to increase their influence on decision-making and implementation.
Learning outcome
Knowledge
Through attending this course, you will gain knowledge about scientific progress in the following areas:
- How to design policy mixes and governmental apparatus in ways that may spur climate and environmental action.
- How to facilitate implementation of climate and environmental policy.
- Conceptual frameworks and theories developed to better understand domestic climate and environmental governance developments.
- The role of science, business, and popular sentiments for climate governance.
- Under which conditions and how policy entrepreneurs may increase their influence.
- How Norwegian and EU climate governance have developed and inter-related over time.
Skills
Develop skills that enable you to:
- Identify conditions that may facilitate science, business, and civic organizations to increase its governance influence.
- Assess domestic climate and environmental governance developments and explain differences across countries.
- Specify the role of political science within the larger climate science community, where other disciplines (engineering, economy, and natural science) are important.
Competences
Obtain general competence to:
- Develop political strategies for various actors in differing climate and environmental issue areas.
- Evaluate the political feasibility of differing climate and environmental governance approaches.
- Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of differing domestic climate and environmental policies and approaches.
Admission to the course
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
Students enrolled in other Master`s Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Apply for guest student status if you are admitted to another Master`s programme.
For incoming students
All Master`s courses in Political Science must be registered manually by the Department, they will not appear in Studentweb. Contact your international coordinator at UiO.
Teaching
10 lectures are held during five weeks, with examination in the sixth week.
Compulsory activities:
- There are two obligatory submissions, submitted in Canvas. All students shall submit a groupwork report that evaluate the political strategy of an actors’ approach to a certain climate or environmental issue.
- must be between 1200 and 1600 words.
- shall be submitted about half way into the course, but also presented to the other students.
????All students must submit a draft term paper in due time before the seminar where all are given feedback to their papers.
In the event of illness or other valid reasons, you can apply for a valid absence or postponement of compulsory activity.
Apply for valid absence from or need for postponement of compulsory activity
Examination
The term paper:
- must be between 3500-5000 words
- must have a topic that reflects the course readings and curriculum
- must meet the formal requirements for submission of written assignments
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Resit an examination
If you are sick or have another valid reason for not attending the regular exam, we offer a postponed exam later in the same semester.
See also our information about resitting an exam.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- How to use AI as a student
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.